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A doctor has been struck off the medical register after the General Medical Council ruled he posed a significant risk to vulnerable patients.

A General Medical Council Fitness to Practise panel ruled that Dr Paul Hirschowitz, 50, could cause further harm after he told a pregnant patient she had a "nice a*se" and that "cuddles were better than medicine".

The Council found the Scarborough GP guilty of misconduct in his inappropriate and sexually motivated behaviour towards three female patients.

Patient A told the hearing that Dr Hirschowitz, 50, had told her she had a "nice a*se" during a consultation at the Norwood House Surgery in North Yorkshire in June 2005 and started to rub himself over his clothes.

Patient B reported that he performed an examination of her abdomen, back and legs in February 2007 after she had told him she was pregnant, he also offered to perform an unnecessary internal examination.

Another woman, patient C, told the panel that Dr Hirschowitz had become more like a friend than a doctor, stroking her face and hand on more than one occasion.

The panel ruled that erasure of the doctor's registration was the only option available as it concluded his "persisting behaviour would put patients at serious risk of harm".